End of the month money-food woe

Sweet potato lentil curry https://detoxinista.com/vegan-lentil-sweet-potato-curry/ will use your carrots, sweet potato, lentils and broth. I’ve made it many times and it’s delicious and filling.

If you really don't want to turn on the stove you could cook the potatoes in the microwave or on the grill and top them with the cream of mushroom soup (also heated in the microwave), the yogurt, and/or the canned tomatoes heated with the onions and any spices in the Tex-Mex vein (cumin, chili powder, cayenne, etc.) that you have on hand. (If the lentils are canned, that's another topping option, but I always buy dried.)

You could have a salad on the side (or as a separate course if you prefer) from the chickpeas, mushrooms, carrots, onions if they're the kind of onions you'd put on a salad -- I was thinking they were mature onions when I suggested combining them with the tomatoes -- and capers, if you like capers in your salads. Hopefully you have oil and vinegar, or bottled salad dressing. If not, you can thin some of the yogurt with a little milk, add a generous amount of salt and pepper, and any dried basil, thyme, parsley, etc. you have in your pantry, to create your own fresh take on ranch.

If your pantry includes any no-cook grains like bulgur or cellophane noodles (just microwave water and soak) or any grains that you're comfortable cooking in the microwave (it's not something I've tried), you could put a grain base to your salad. Or combine the consomme, cream of mushroom soup, and some yogurt for a quick take on beef stroganoff. Sweat the mushrooms with a little water in a covered bowl in the microwave or (my preference) in a foil pack on the grill. Combine them with the faux stroganoff sauce and whatever grain you're using. Add the chickpeas and lentils if you want to boost the protein, although the mushrooms alone are a better match for this dish in terms of flavor and texture. If you have any Worcestershire sauce, you could add that.

You can put a few ingredients into the Ingredient Search feature of https://www.allrecipes.com and see what you come up with.

I like to sprout lentils this time of year and add them to salads. If I soak them in water overnight, they are edible without any cooking required. (After a few more days of rinsing and draining they will have sprouts but I usually don't wait that long.)

So you could do a lentil salad with capers and veggies, salt & pepper, oil & vinegar.

What spices do you have? "Too many to count" or "all the spices" is a valid answer

RelCanonical wrote: »

I really like this chickpea burger: https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/chickpea-burger-338863

Looks good! This is a fun tip:

"Keep opened chickpea can to cut round shapes in bread slices. Toast each slice in toaster or in frying pan."

Do you have any pasta? If not, a box is usually around $1. You could get a number of meals out of a nice pasta primavera.

kshama2001 wrote: »

RelCanonical wrote: »

I really like this chickpea burger: https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/chickpea-burger-338863

Looks good! This is a fun tip:

"Keep opened chickpea can to cut round shapes in bread slices. Toast each slice in toaster or in frying pan."

Also, save the bean liquid when you drain them to use as an egg white substitute, and you've got the making of aquafaba meringues or aquafaba mousse for dessert.

i've used myfridgefood.com/

I cannot vouch for this recipe, because I don't like carrots, but I know that carrot salad with yogurt dressing is popular in some cultures. https://azcookbook.com/2017/09/19/carrot-salad-with-yogurt/

side of yogurt=protein.
For the rest: soup or stirfry over quinoa